Vajpayee’s 90th b'day to be ‘good governance day’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the BJP parliamentary party on Tuesday that the 90th birthday of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee would be celebrated on December 25 across the country as ‘Good Governance Day’. BJP president Amit Shah was also present at the meet.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the BJP parliamentary party on Tuesday that the 90th birthday of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee would be celebrated on December 25 across the country as ‘Good Governance Day’. BJP president Amit Shah was also present at the meet.

Moreover, even as the government faced flak from the opposition over the PM’s foreign trips, the party released a booklet on the his recent, high-profile foreign trips.

Vajpayee’s birthday celebrations are being seen in BJP circles as an opportunity for the party to further bolster its governance credentials. “It was the Vajpayee government that set India on the path of good governance, and our state governments later became examples of good governance. Today, even those parties that have no contribution to governance are talking about it,” a BJP leader told HT.

At the meeting, it was decided that Rajya Sabha MPs will be asked to nurture constituencies in their respective states where the BJP lost in 2014 general election.

“PM Modi told the party MPs that the birthday of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee would be observed as national good governance day on December 25, where all BJP MPs and government officials would mark the day as symbolic of good governance,” minister of state for parliamentary affairs Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.

The BJP’s booklet ‘mission overseas’ showcased the press coverage of Modi’s foreign trips since became PM.

“The general perception has been that our country in recent years has not pursued its foreign policy as effectively as it should have been,” says the foreword by Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu. The foreword praises on Modi for enhancing India’s global standing, adding: “This kind of interest in India and its leadership was not seen in recent years.”